In 2016, John Calipari told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the NCAA graduate-transfer rule is "not good for the game. It's not good for these kids." Kentucky is now said to be a leading contender for Stanford star Reed Travis, who is leaving the Cardinal as a grad transfer. Alex Slitzaslitz@herald-leader.com

In 2016, John Calipari told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the NCAA graduate-transfer rule is "not good for the game. It's not good for these kids." Kentucky is now said to be a leading contender for Stanford star Reed Travis, who is leaving the Cardinal as a grad transfer. Alex Slitzaslitz@herald-leader.com

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Reid Travis (22), who led Stanford last season in scoring (19.5 per game) and rebounding (8.7), drew a comparison to former UK standout Julius Randle.

John Locher AP

Redshirt sophomore forward Tai Wynyard — who played in only eight games last season before getting suspended — has transferred to Santa Clara. Sophomore center Sacha Killeya-Jones — who had eight points and six rebounds in UK's NCAA Tournament-opening win vs. Davidson — has departed for North Carolina State.

For those of you scoring at home, that's only eight scholarship players presently on the 2018-19 UK roster.

To bolster that number, it is widely expected that Georgia high school guard Ashton Hagans, a Wildcats recruiting commit, will "re-classify" from the class of 2019 and come to UK for the coming season.

If reports are accurate, John Calipari and Kentucky are also the favorites to land Reid Travis. The 6-foot-8, 245-pound front-court player is using the graduate-transfer rule to leave Stanford after finishing third in the Pac-12 last season in both scoring (19.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg).

Multiple sources are speculating that #Stanford PF Reid Travis is returning to school — but, in Lexington, KY. Would become a graduate transfer at #Kentucky and an enormous addition for the Wildcats, if true. Talented big man averaged 19.5 points, 8.7 rbs for the Cardinal.

The rule allows players who have earned an undergraduate degree and who have remaining athletics eligibility to switch schools and play immediately rather than sitting out for one season as is conventional.

"It's just bad for the business, bad for kids," Calipari said of the graduate-transfer rule. "It's another thing the NCAA will say whatever they want to say. It's not good for the game. It's not good for these kids. And it caught Bru."

Since Calipari came to Kentucky in 2009-10, UK has previously utilized the grad-transfer rule only once.

In 2012-13, Julius Mays came to Kentucky as a graduate transfer from Wright State. The 6-foot-2 Mays averaged 9.3 points and 2.9 rebounds for UK.

Julius Mays averaged 9.3 points and 2.9 rebounds for Kentucky in 2012-13 after leaving Wright State as a graduate transfer. Mays, who played his first two seasons at North Carolina State, is so far the only grad transfer to play for UK during the John Calipari coaching era.

Lexington Herald-Leader file photo

In his remarks to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Calipari appeared to allude to the decision to take a player away from Wright State when he said, "Even then, I was like, 'It disgusts me that we're doing this.'"

Once you've taken such a hard line against graduate transfers, what do you say now to justify taking one?

If Kentucky can fend off defending national champion Villanova for Travis, Calipari could say his prior remarks about the graduate-transfer rule came from emotion and out of loyalty to a coaching friend who had been hurt by the rule.

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The UK coach could acknowledge that a rule that rewards players for academic success by giving them a chance to finish their college careers in what they perceive as a better situation is a "players first" regulation by the NCAA — even if it does sometimes hurt mid-major coaches and programs.

Alas, admitting he was wrong — and he was — is not the approach I would anticipate Calipari taking.

Instead, if UK gets Reid Travis, I would expect Calipari to note he started his college head coaching career at Massachusetts and to emphasize that his objection to the graduate-transfer rule is seeing power-five schools systematically raid the rosters of teams from less prominent leagues for reinforcements.

A player leaving a Pac-12 school for the SEC would not be an example of that.

Pointing that out is how I would expect Calipari to work out of "the graduate-transfer hypocrisy box" his prior remarks on the topic have created.

About Mark Story

I am a native Kentuckian, a graduate of North Hardin High School (Radcliff) and the University of Kentucky. I came to the Herald-Leader in the glamorous position of agate clerk on Aug. 27, 1990. Since that time, I’ve worked as small-college beat reporter, sports enterprise/investigative reporter and, since August, 2001, as a full-time sports columnist.